NEW YORK —What we learned Thursday afternoon while watching Syracuse snap Connecticut’s streak of 13 consecutive postseason wins with a 58-55 victory in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden:

Dion Waiters is no sixth man

OK, technically Waiters doesn’t start and was eligible for the Big East’s sixth-man award, which is why he won the Big East’s sixth-man award. But he averages more minutes than Brandon Triche and about a minute less than Scoop Jardine. Triche and Jardine start, so they’re not eligible for the sixth-man award.

Thursday against UConn, Waiters showed why he won the award. With top scorer Kris Joseph struggling — he missed his first seven field-goal attempts and finished 1-of-8 — Waiters took over. At one point in the first half, he scored 10 consecutive points for the Orange, helping his team run out to a 20-12 lead.

Then, in the second half, after UConn’s surge pushed the Huskies to an eight-point lead at 42-34, Waiters again stepped up. He scored eight points in a 15-5 Syracuse run that again put the Orange in control of the game.

Star player? Most definitely. Sixth man? Far from it.

Speaking of bench guys ...

James Southerland averages 15.2 minutes and 6.6 points in Syracuse’s crowded — and talented — rotation but clearly is a player capable of much more. While Waiters was handling the primary scoring burden, the 6-8 junior wing was knocking down huge long-range jumpers.

His first 3-pointer came with 7:44 left in the second half, and it cut UConn’s lead to 47-46. His second triple came with 4:54 left, and it boosted Syracuse’s lead to 51-47, the largest it had been since the closing minutes of the first half.

Then, with 1:13 left and the Orange ahead by four points, Southerland knocked down a long 2-pointer from the corner to put Syracuse in front 55-49.

For the game, Southerland finished with 10 points in 27 minutes. The fact Syracuse has the luxury of bringing players like Waiters and Southerland off the bench is a big reason the club is one of the favorites to cut down the nets in New Orleans.

UConn will be favored in NCAA

The Huskies are playing like a top-five seed, but with their flawed resume, they almost certainly will be seeded eighth or worse. If they’re a No. 10 or 11 seed, pity the opponent that worked hard all year to earn a good seed, only to get matched against an underachieving squad full of future NBA players.

It doesn’t mean UConn is guaranteed to win that first-round NCAA Tournament game — and, yes, with six top-50 wins, the Huskies will be dancing — but opposing coaches will break out in cold sweats while breaking down film of UConn’s performance in the Big East Tournament.